Kaokoland, Former bantustan and semi-arid geographic region in northwestern Namibia.
Kaokoland spans approximately 19,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) of rugged terrain featuring rocky deserts, mountain ranges reaching up to 6,700 feet (2,039 meters), gravel plains, and ephemeral river valleys with extremely sparse settlement patterns.
Originally administered as a native reserve in the early twentieth century, Kaokoland was formally designated as a homeland in 1964 by the Odendaal Commission under South African apartheid policies to segregate ethnic groups.
The Himba people maintain traditional pastoral lifestyles in Kaokoland, practicing livestock herding, applying distinctive red ochre body adornment, and preserving matrilineal inheritance systems despite environmental challenges and limited modern infrastructure.
Access to Kaokoland requires four-wheel-drive vehicles due to rough dirt roads, with Opuwo serving as the main hub for fuel, supplies, and medical services in this remote region with minimal tourist facilities.
Kaokoland hosts desert-adapted elephants that travel up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) searching for water and can survive several days without direct water access in the harsh arid environment.
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